Toronto

As mentioned in my blog post on the few days I spent at my last stop on my US trip, Buffalo, me and Kevin also spent a day in Toronto! This day trip took us out of Buffalo and out of the US into Canada, but we’d first a stop on the very border to make.

I have to admit that after so many weeks in the US and a particularly busy time in New York, I’d completely forgotten that Kevin and James live nearby a very famous natural wonder: Niagara Falls. I was excited to catch a glimpse of the famous waterfall, so we parked up on the Canadian side of the Niagara River and headed towards the huge column of spray.

It will sound very cliché, but I did get quite emotional even before the falls came into full view. Just being close to the edge and watching the sheer quantity of water go flying over the edge from the top end of the falls was impressive enough, and so I had to hold back a tear as we headed further down the river’s edge and the full glory of this famous landmark presented itself.

The photos I’ve included – much like any videos I’ve ever seen of the falls – do not do the place any justice. I had never imagined the huge, panoramic size of the waterfall – it was breathtaking.

Another aspect that can’t be appreciated via photo is how bloody misty the whole area surrounding the falls is: we got absolutely soaked! It was a hot and sunny day, thankfully, so its cooling effects were quite welcome.

It was also cool to stand and look across the river to the US side.

After a quick trip to the gift shop and the loos, we hopped back into the car and headed on into Toronto proper. Me and Kevin had a good karaoke session in the car along the way, belting out some Spanish karaoke classics until we arrived and Kevin just fully drove over an entire pavement as a shortcut to get into a car park – it was hilarious!

We grabbed ourselves some public transport tickets and headed off to the city’s gay district, where we had a drink and indulged in a spot of shopping, all whilst pretending to be two old Spanish ladies who were overestimating their grasp on the English language. More hilarity!

Kevin then made a plan of other things we should go and see and we duly headed off to check out the places he’d identified. We passed through the city’s main square, to the old town hall, a famous indoor market, and then off to the distillery district.

The streets of Toronto were lovely and showed the city’s famous skyline.

The distillery district was just that, a whole district which was once an industrial complex full of breweries and distilleries. It had since been converted into a rather bougie area full of restaurants and bars, so we found a place with a table outside and had a pint to end our day in Toronto.

The distillery district was an absolutely lovely way to end the day.

As day turned into night, we headed back to the car and began our journey back south towards the US and Buffalo. Kevin wanted to take me to a mystery restaurant for tea, but the traffic out of Toronto delayed our arrival by a good while and so we decided to head off to Jim’s Stakeout. This was a little bit of foreshadowing for the evening after when we’d both end up back in there and in quite a state!

After messing up my dates and telling the immigration officer that I’d arrived in the United States on the 24th of August – a date which hadn’t even passed at this point – I was miraculously let into the country after the officer himself didn’t even seem to notice my monumental gaffe!

I had an absolutely great day in Toronto and at the Niagara Falls (which I’d been spelling wrong all my life, yikes). Kevin was an absolutely great tour guide and the best company one could wish for when exploring a new city!

After this I headed back to Buffalo, so if you’ve clicked into this blog post from there, time to head back!